Downdraft-heater



L. L. GORR DOWNDBAFT HEATER. APPLICATION FELED 5.17.1911.

Patnted 001;, 19,1920

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

to: new

L. L. GORR.

DOWNDRAFT HEATER- APPLICATION nuzn' FEB. 17, Ian.

Patented O t 19,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS nconn, or MARSHFIELD, OREGON.

DOWNDRAFT-HEATER.

. Specification of Letters Patent. P t t t' 19,.192

Application filed February 17,1917. Serial. No. 149,225.

To all to item it may concern v Be it known that I, LoUIsL. Gonn, ac1t1- zen of the Unlted States, residing at Marsh field, inthe county ofCoos and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and use fulImprovements in Downdraft-Heaters; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make, anduse the same.

The invention relates to improvements in down draft heaters.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofdown draft heaters and to provide a simple, practical and efficient downdraft heater of comparatively inexpensive construction equipped withmeans for enabling it to be converted in an up draft heater when it isdesired to arrange the heater in this manner forstarting a fire or forproducing exterior heat, and capable of burning soft coal practicallysmokelessly or gaseous fuel with a minimum amount of air for supportingthe combuse tion incident to the burning of such fuel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a down draft heaterofthis "character adapted to heat the fuel air priorto in troducing thesame into the combustion chamber.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a heater for heating afluid such as water, air or steam and arranged to intro-i duce theheated medium into it at the point where the practically spent gases andother 1 products of combustion leave the heater and the same time tocause the heated medium to leave the heater as passes through thehottest zone in the combustion chamber.

With these and other ob ects in view, the

invention consists in the construction and IL novel combination of partshereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying any oftheadvantages of. the invention.

In the draw1ngs- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional new of adown draft heater constructed in accordance with this invention,

F ig. 2 is a transverse sectional view onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1, c

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1, V U I .F'g-4: is a horizontal sectional view on line M of Fig. 1,

F ig, 5 grate I Fig. 6' is a perspective View of a hollow grate designedparticularly for heatingair,

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the hollow grateshown in Fig. 6.

Llke numerals of reference designate cor-, responding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings. p

In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention the down draft heaterillustrated in Figs. 1to 5 inclusive comprises in its constructiomahollow grate 1 composed ofsop:

arate sections preferably consisting of castings arranged side by sideand adapted to be used in any desired numberto provide a grate ofthedesired width and the said down. draft heater is adapted to be.constructed and operated in various sizes as it maybe emplovedinanordinary domestic heater or. in a municipal garbage incineratingfurnace.The hollow, grate is composed of a front horizontal portion or grate bar2, an upper transversely disposed vertically projecting arm or waterback member 3, a depending transversely disposedflange 4 and arearwardly projecting vertically arranged arm. or mcmberli. The frontportions 2 oft-he sections of the grate may be provided with laterallyprojecting lugs 6 and they are hollow and communicate with the arms 3and 5 whichare also hollow. The armsor mem hers 3 of thesecticns of thegrate are fitted togetherat their side faces or walls to form acontinuousv upwardly projecting trans. versely, disposed water back orrear wall or partition; The depending flanges ,4: which also fit againsteach otherprovide a depending transversely disposed partition or bridgewall and the, rearwardly extending arms or members 5 which are alsohollow are arranged in spaced relation and form narrow vertical chambersand provide intervening fines or spaces 7 for the passage of theproducts of combustion as hereinafter fully; explained; The extensionsP. on the lower' ends of themembers 8 it against eachother to provide arearwardly directed deflecting stantially oblong coupling boxes orcasings 8 fitted together at their ends as clearly illustrated in Figs.4 and 5 of the drawings and provided with end and rear openings 9 and10. The ends of the boxes or casings 8 fit flat against one another andthey may be connected by press or inserted nipples 11 and theycommunicate at their rear openings 10 with a header 12 by short pipes orfittings 13. An inlet pipe 14 is connected with the header forintroducing water or fluidmedium in the heater. The medium to be heatedenters the chamber 15 of the rearwardly projecting arm or member 5 andpasses upwardly and forwardly through a lower duct or passage 16 in thefront hollow grate portion 2 which is provided with a horizontalpartition 17 extending forwardlyfrom the rear end of the hollow frontportion 2 and terminating short of the front end thereof and dividlngthe space with n the said front portion 2 into a lower duct or passagel6 and an upper duct or passage 18. The heating medium passes around thefront end of the horizontal partition 17 and enters the upper duct orpassage of the front grate portion 2 and then passes into the chamber 19of the upper transversely disposed hollow arm or member 3. The upwardlyprojecting arms or members 3 are provided with lateral openings 20 andtop openings 21 and the interior chambers 19 communicate with oneanother through the lateral openings 20 in which are preferably arrangednipples 11 similar to those heretofore described. The said chambers 19are also designed to be connected at the top with a manifold or header22 by nipples or fittings 23 and an outlet pipe 24 extends from themanifold or heater 22 for conveying the heated medium to the desiredpoint or points. The hollow grate is arranged within a casing which mayconsist of metal, masonry or any other suitable material according tothe character of the heater in which the hollow grate struc ture isemployed and the said casing is divided by the hollow grate structureinto an upper combustion or fuel chamber 24, a lower ash pit or chamber25 and a rear heating chamber 26 into which the rearwardly projectingarms or members 5 extend and divide the lower portion of such chamberinto separate passages which are coincident with the interveningrecesses 7 heretofore described. The upwardly projecting arms or members3 form the rear wall ofthe combustion chamber and they terminate shortof the top wall of the casing to provide an intervening space at whichis lo cated a transversely disposed damper 27. Thedepending flanges 4form the rear wall of the lower front ash pit or chamber 25 and lowerdampers are adapted to be arranged as hereinafter fully explained toconvert the heater into either a down draft heater or an up draftheater.

The air for the supporting of combustion within the fuel chamber, whenthe heater is employed as a down draft heater, is introduced into theupper fuel chamber or combustion chamber 24 by an air duct 29 comprisinga lower rear horizontally disposed inlet portion 30, an intermediatevertical connecting portion 31, an upper horizontally disposed portion32 and a front transversely disposed portion 33. The air is heatedthroughout its passage through the inlet line and itis introduced intothe combustion chamber 24 in a heatedcondition and is drawn downwardlythrough the fuel by the draft of a flue 34 and it passes through thelower chamber or ash pit 25. The gases and other products of combustionpass rearwardly through the damper controlled space 35 upwardly throughthe rear passages 01' spaces 7 intolthe rear heating chamber 26 andescape through the flue 34 which is provided with a damper 36. Thevertical connecting portion 31 of the inlet flueis located in therearchamber 26 directly below the flue or smoke pipe 34 so that it issubjected to the. practically spent gases and other products ofcombustion before the same escape to the chimney or flue and the air entering the duct 29 is heated in its passage through the same. The heatedmedium traveling through the hollow grate structure enters at the rearand is first subjected to the action of the gases and other products ofcombustion escaping to the rear heating chamber 26 and is preliminarilyheated before entering the front portion of the hollow grate and in itspassage through the front hollow grate portion 2, the heating medium issubjected to the hottest Zone of the heater preparatory to its leavingthe heater through the intensely heated upper chambers 19. The frontface of the wall formed by the arms or members 3 may be lined with firebrick when it' is not desired to subject the heated medium to theintense heat at the rear wall of the combustion chamber. By thisconstruction and arrangement of the hollow grate the heated medium andwhen starting a fire or for any other reason it is desired to convertthe heater into an up draft heater the lower damper28 is closed and theupper damper 27 is opened and air is admitted to the heater at the frontof the lower or ash chamber or pit 25 through the door 37. This willcause the air to pass upward through the fuel and V adapted to'swingfrom the front'wall to the escape from the combustion chamber at theback thereof over the rearwall formed b the arms or members 3, the gasesand pro nets of combustion passing directly to the stove pipe or flue34.

When the down draft is employed for heating airor water,the hollow gratemay be constructed of sheet metal. sections 49 which are shown in Figs.6 and 7 of the drawings and which are preferably com; posed of similaropposite longitudinal sections or members 50 suitably secured to getherand forming a front portion 51 and an upwardly projecting transverselydisposed arm or member 52 and a rearwardly projecting verticallydisposed arm or member 58. The front portion 51 is provided with ahorizontal partition 5d and the rearwardly projecting portion or member53has a plurality of baffle plates or partitions 55. An'inlet 56 isprovided at the top of the rearwardly projecting portion 53 andan-outlet 57 is arranged at the top of the transversely disposedupwardly projecting arm or member 52.

The down draft fiuidheater to burn soft coalsmolrelessly and also toburn gas in a burner. The soft coal. is burned with the least possibleamount ,of fuel air and the heating surfaces are arranged so that amaximum amount of the heat resulting from the combustion of the fuel isabsorbed by the heated medium and thus successfully utilized. Thisdesign lends itselfreadily to its adoption as a steam generator, aliquid heater or an air heater and its range of construction will varyfrom the smallest domestic heater to that of the largest munic palgarbage ncinerator.- The economy of the heater is assured since both theheating medium and the heated medium travel in the most approved manner,inasmuch as the spent gases leave the heater where the heated mediumenters and the heated medium leaves the heater as itpas'ses through thehottest zone in the combustion chamber. drawings reduces the material toa minimum and lessens the cost of production. The dimensions andproportions will" be varied to suit the conditions and requirements andsteam drums, expansion tanks and various other accessories will ofcourse be employed to make an installation a complete and practicalheating apparatus. The heateris adapted to be readily arranged as an updraft heater, the heater being reis adapted The design illustrated vinthe versed whenstarting a fresh fire or when heat is wanted outside ofthe heater or when it is necessary to use the heater primarily a arefuse burner; e e

T he ,upper damper 27, which is preferably located. below the smoke pipeor flue 34:,

operates within an opening 62 from which the smoke pipe or flue 34:extends,'and it is" rear wall of the said opening 62 in convert mg thestove or heater from a downdraft to'an up draft and it constitutes a twoported I brought into operation.

The hollow heating element, which disubstantially horizontal frontportion, the upwardly extending arm or portion andth erearwardlyextending arm orportion, may have the upwardly and rearwardlyextending arms or portionsarranged in a variety of positions and theupwardly extending armor. portion, instead of being arranged at vides}the casing of the stove into its several compartments and which iscomposed of the the back of the combustion chamber to form the rear wallthereof, may be placed at one a or both sides or in any otherdesiredposition, aswillbe readily understood, and, as

iliustratedin F igs16 and 7, the rearwardly extending arm or portion,when disposed in an upwardly projecting position, will be arranged inspaced relatlon with the upwardlyprogecting transversely disposedportion 51 so that the highly heated air or water passing out throughthe portion 51 will not give upfany of its heat to t comingwater or air.This form of the inventlon may be advantageously employedas a, waterbeaten-sand by arranging the said portions of the hollow heating elementsuch spaced relat on, the outgol arr or TAU water is maintained at amaximum tem-' perature. 1

fVVhat is claimed is ing a casing, substantially horizontal memberslofhollow formation having upper and lower passages communicating at theirfront 1 ends, upwardly extending membersof hollow formation located attherear ends of said horizontal members and communicating with therearends of said upper passages, the lateral sides of said upwardlyextending members being arranged in abutting engagement, rearwardlyextending membersof hollow formation communicatingv with the rear endsof said lower passages, said rearwardly extending members being of lesswidth than.

the upwardly extending members and relaing members.

tively spaced, bridge wall sections depending from the rear ends of saidhorizontal members and having their lateral sides arranged in abuttingengagement, a supply pipe communicating with said rearwardly extendingmembers, and a discharge pipe communicating with said upwardly extend-2. A heater of the class described includ ing a casing, substantiallyhorizontal members of hollow formation having-upper and lower passagescommunicating at their front ends, upwardly extending members of hollowformation located at the rear ends of said horizontal members andcommunicating with the rear ends of said upper passages, said upwardlyextending members communicating with each other at their upper ends andhaving their lateral sides arranged in abutting engagement, downwardlyand rearwardly extending members of hollow formation communicating withthe rear ends of said lower passages, said downwardly and rearwardlyextending members being of less width than the upwardly extendingmembers and relatively spaced, downwardly extending bridge wall sectionslocated at the rear ends of said horizontal members, couplings carriedby the lower rear ends of said downwardly and rearwardly extendingmembers, said couplings being arranged in abutting engagement andcommunicating with each other and with said downwardly and rearwardlyextending members, a supply pipe communicating with said clownwardly andrearwardly extending members, and a discharge pipe communicating withsaid upwardly extending members.

3. A heater of the'class described including a casing, substantiallyhorizontal members of hollow formation having upper and lower passagescommunicating at their front ends, upwardly extending members of hollowformation locatedat the rear ends of said horizontal members andcommunicating with the rear ends of said upper passages, said upwardlyextending members having their lateral sides arranged in abuttingengagement with each other and with the sides of said casing, rearwardlyextending members of hollow formation communicating with the rear endsof said lower passages, downwardly extending abutting bridge wallsections at the rear ends of said, horizontal members, said bridge wallsections also abutting the sides of the casing, a supply pipecommunicating with said rearwardly extending members, and adischarge'pip'e' communicating with said upwardly extending members. 7

4. A heater of the class described including a casing, substantiallyhorizontal members of hollow formation having upper and lower passagescommunicating at their front ends, upwardly extending members of, hollowformation located at the rear ends of said horizontal members andcommunicating with the rear ends of said upper passages, the lateralsides of said upwardly extending members being arranged in abuttingengagement with each other and the sides of the casing, rearwardlyextending members of hollow formation communicating with the rear endsof said lower passages, said rearwardly extending members being of lesswidth than the upwardly extending members and relatively spaced, bridgewall sections depending from the rear ends of said horizontal membersand having their lateral sides arranged in abutting engagement with eachother and the sides of the casing, a supply pipe communicating with saidrearwardly extending members, and a discharge pipe communicating withsaid upwardly extending members. 1

5. A heater of the class describedincluding a casing, grate barsprovided with upper and lower passages communicating at their frontends, a water back communicating with the rear ends of the upperpassages, a bridge wall depending from the rear ends of the grate bars,chambers projecting rearwardly beyond said water back and bridge walland communicating with the rear ends of said lower passages, saidchambers being arranged in relatively spaced relation to providepassagestherebetween for the products of combustion, a supply pipe communicatingwith said-chambers, and a discharge pipe communicating with said waterback.

6. A heater of the class described, comprising a casing, grate barsprovided with upperand lower passages communicating at their front ends,a water back communicating with the rear ends of the upper passages, abridge wall extending downwardly from the grate bars, a deflecting wallextending rearwardly from the lower end of the water back, and chamberscommunicating with the rear ends of said lower passages and extendingrearwardly beyond the water back, the bridge wall, and the deflectingwall, said chambers being relatively spaced to provide passagestherebetween for the products of combustion, a supply pipe communicatingwith said chambers, and a discharge water back.

7, A heater of the class described comprising a casing, grate barsprovided with upper and lower passages communicating at their frontends, a water back communicating with the rear ends of the upperpassages and having its lateral sides arranged in engagement with theside walls ofthe casing, the upper end of the water back terminatingshort of the upper wall of the casing, a damper located between theupper end of the water back and the upper wall of the casing, a bridgewall depending from thepipe communicating with said rear ends of thegrate bars and terminating short of the bottom wall of the casing, adamper located between the lower end of the bridge wall and thebottom.wall of the casing, a plurality of chambers communicating withthe rear ends of said lower passages and located in rear of said bridgewall, said chambers being relatively spaced to provide passagestherebetween for the products of combustion, a supply pipe communicatingwith said chambers and a dislcjhalige pipe communicating with said water8. A heater of the class described com prising a casing, grate barshaving upper and lower passages communicating at their front ends,upwardly extending members of hollow formation located at the rear endsof said grate bars and communicating with the rear ends of said upperpassages, said back, bridge wall sections depending from ,the rear endsof said grate bars and having their lateral sides arranged in abuttingengagement, chambers commun cating with the rear ends of saidlower'passages and arranged 1n relatively spaced relation to providepassages therebetween for the products of combustion, said chambersbeing located in rear of said bridge wall sections, a supply )pipecommunicating with said chambers, and a discharge pipe communicatingwith said water back members.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, a LOUIS L. GORR. Witnesses:

BENNETT SwAN'roN, GRACE L. GoRR.

